Opening and closing device.



F. KRICH.

OPENING AND CLOSING DEVICE-l APPLlcAnoN msn ma. l1. 1 915.

Patented May16,--1916.

WITNESSES fjea of the King `2-o slide adapted to engage the sald interlocklng device on'the line 3-.3 of

To all whom t may concern v 4 Beit known that I, FRANK Knien, a subdent of the city -of New York, borough of 5 the Bronx, 'county of Bronx, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Opening and Closing` Device, of which the followingis a full, clear, and ex act description:- v

The invention relates to wearing apparel, and its Objectis to provide a new and im- 1 proved opening and closing device for use on shoes, corsets, dresses 'and other articles Aof wear, vand arranged to enable the .wearer to securely and conveniently open or close 'the article. y f In order to 'accomplish .the desired result, use is made of interlocking members ar# ranged on theparts of the articleto be fastened together, and a manuallyy controlled ing members on moving theslidein one-direction to unlock and open the said membei s, the slide on being moved in the opposite direction closing the said members-- A practical embodiment ofthe invention is represented inthe accompanying drawings forminga part 'off this specification, in

.which similar characters vofreierence indicate corresponding artsin all theviews.

Figure 1 is an en arged face view of the Aupper portion of the opening ,and closing device as applied to a shoe and with 'the members interlocked and the cover of the lslide in section; Fig. 1 is a similar view of the lower portion of the opening and closing/device with the parts shown in section;

Fig- 2 is a similar View ofthe same Awiththe slide and interlocklng members in unlockedpositlon,` Fig. 3 'is an enlarged sec and clos- .g- 1'; Fig- 4-1s an enlargedcross 'section of the slide;

tionalplan view of the openirg. 1

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of thein- I 5 terlocking members; Flg. 6 is a similar vlew of a pair of stopping members for the slide; and Fig? is a face view of a modified form of the slide. i

To the parts A .and-A". to be opened and other V,fastening devices B, B" the outer cords or similar flexible carriers C, C" having their inner edges C2, Ca some- .55 what thickened,v as plainly indicated -in i, Fig. 3. To the edges C2, C3' areV se- Specification of Letters Patent.

of Hungary, and a resi- 4 members D, -D

closed are `secured by'rows of Stitchesor En srATns naa-Enr onirica. KRICH., 0F Y/OlRK, NHVY.

cured alternately arranged interlocking members DD each provided on top of its free end with a pin or point D2 and on the under side with a recess D3 in alinement with the axis ofthe in or point D2. vThe pin D2 of oneinterloo ed to engage the recess of the next adjacent A in closed position.V

Patented May 16, 1916.

Application led February 17. 191@d l Serial No. 8,761.

ng member is adapt- 4interlocking member vthus holding the mem-'- bers D and D interlocked and the parts A,

- In order to move' the members D and D I into interlocking .or into open ositon use is made of a manually control ed slide E provided with a chamber E open at the bottom for the passage of the interlocking and the thickened portions C2, C8 of the carriers C, Cf', and the sides of thesaid chamber E are provided with slots E2 for the lassage of the free ends` of the carriers C, as will 4be readil understood by reference to Fig. 3. Within the upper portion of the chamber E is centrally disposed a tongue Es separating the upper endA of the chamberv E into sidewise extending branch channels E4, Ei open at the sides of the carrier E and of a width corresponding approximately to the width of the corresponding interlocking member D or D. When' the slide E is moved downward the point of the tongue E8 directs the interlocking` members D and D into the branch channels E4, E's whereby the points `D2 ,moveV out of engagement with the recesses D8 thus v unlocking and disconnecting the members D and D', as will be readil understood by reference to Fig. 2. In a li e manner when the slide E is moved, upward the carriers' C,

C ass successively through the channels Et, F5 into the chamber E and in doing so the points- D2 engage the Arecesses D3 to .interlock the'members D and D. The slide E is provided' with a'cover Ea hinged at its lppergend to the u per end lof the tongue land the cover 6 is normally held in al y'closed position by\a split pin E'I or a similar spring catch. The'upper end of the slide E is provided with an .eye Esengaged by one end of a string F under'thecontrol of the operator for pulling the slide Eupward with: a view `to interlock the members D, D with each other, as previously3 explained. 'edges of two leather or fabric tapes,` ,v

. In order to prevent the slide r'from disengaging the 'lowermost interlocking'- memn bers D, D', use is made of one or two pairs of stopping members G, G secured to the thickened portions C2, Cq of the i'lenible car# y I stopping member G is provided at its free aol end with a recess G2 into which extends the shank'Gr3 of the other member G', and the shank G3 is provided with a pin G4 adapted to engage a depression G5 in the roof of the recess G2. By this arrangement the stopping members yGr and G can be disconnected from each other by the wearer whenever it is desired to completely open the parts A and A, but normally the stopping members G and G are interlocked and form an abutment for the point of the tongue E3 to abut against at the time the slide E reaches a lowermost position, as indicated in Fig. 2.

In order to prevent theyslide E from disengagement with the uppermost members yD and D at the time the slide E reaches uppermost position, use is made of abutting members H, H secured'to the thickened portions C2, C3 of the carriers C, C at the upper ends thereof.` The members H and H abut against each other atthe time the slide E reaches an uppermost position and the outer ends of the members H, H abut against inclined faces E9 of the side walls of the chamber E thus preventing the mem'- bers H, H from reaching and passing 'through the lower open end of the chamber E as will be readily understood by refer-4 ence to Fig. l.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by When .the opening and closing device-is" applied to shoes, use is made of a temporary fastener for holding the slide E locked in uppermost position, and for this purpose the back of the slide E is provided with two sidewise extending arms I, I connected with each other at their inner ends by a hinge I2 attached to the back of the slide E. The outer ends ofthe armsI, I are provided with sockets I3, I4 adapted to engage studs secured on the .upper ends of the parts A and A to temporarily hold the slide E in uppermost position, that is, until it is desired to open the shoe, at which time the sockets I3, I4 are disconnected from their studs to permit of sliding the slide E downward.

to the free edges of said carriers, a manually controlled slide mounted to slide on the carriers and adapted to engage the interlocking members to separate and unlock the members, or to move the said members into interlocking engagement, means for temporarily fastening the'slide in vplace on the parts to be closed, a 'cover -for the slide adapted to'be opened and closed to permit of engaging the slide with the carriers and interlocking members', the said slide having inclined faces and lmeans on the carrier adapted to be engaged by the -inclined faces of the slide to hold the latter against displacement.

2. An opening and closing device, comprising flexible carriers' adapted to be secured along their outer edges to the parts to 'be opened and closed, interlocking members attached alternately to the free vinner edges of the said carriers, a manually controlled slide mounted to slide on the said carriers and adapted when moved in one direction to engage the interlocking members to unlock and separate said members, and when moved in the opposite-direction to interlock the said members, means for temporarily fastening the slide in place on the parts to be opened and closed when the latter are in closed position, a cover hinged to the slide and adapted to be opened to permit of engaging the slide with the inner edges of the lexiblecarriers and.V with the .said interlocking members, and means for fastening f the cover in closed position.

In testimony whereof vI have signed my name to this specifica-tion in the presence of FREDERICK SURMAN, HERBERT FRANKS. 

